In 2013, the WMA decided to lift the suspension after receiving assurances from the Indian Medical Association, which Dr. Ketan Desai once headed.

Dr. Ketan Desai has faced charges of corruption and criminal conspiracy for allegedly being involved in a conspiracy to obtain a bribe of 20 million rupees from a medical college. (Source: Reuters Photo/File)

The World Medical Association (WMA), the top medical-ethics body, on Friday installed an Indian doctor facing corruption charges as its president, despite controversy surrounding his appointment while legal cases are pending. A statement released by the WMA said Dr. Ketan Desai delivered his inaugural speech as president on Friday at the association’s annual assembly in Taiwan. He will serve in the position for 2016/17. Desai has faced conspiracy and corruption allegations since he was first selected in 2009 as a future president of the WMA. Desai has denied any wrongdoing in connection with the pending cases. He did not respond to questions from Reuters sent via email. When Reuters asked the WMA this week for an update on Desai’s legal situation, spokesman Nigel Duncan said the association had nothing more to say.

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“I don’t think there’s anything we want to add to what we have already said,” Duncan said. He did not answer questions about Desai’s legal cases or what the ethics body had been told about them in recent months. In one case filed in New Delhi in 2010, Desai faces charges of corruption and criminal conspiracy for allegedly being involved in a conspiracy to obtain a bribe of 20 million rupees ($450,000 at the time) from a medical college. In return, investigators allege Desai helped the school get permission from the Medical Council to add more students. When contacted last year, the college, which is not a defendant in the case, declined to comment.

Desai was jailed that year and his inauguration as the WMA president was suspended. He was later released on bail. In 2013, the WMA decided to lift the suspension after receiving assurances from the Indian Medical Association, which Desai once headed. The Indian Medical Association did not respond to queries from Reuters this week. A Reuters investigation published in July last year showed that the Indian Medical Association had incorrectly told the WMA that charges against Desai had been withdrawn. Representatives of major doctors organizations accepted the information as fact. The Indian Medical Association said last year that it never misled the WMA.

The WMA had said it took questions raised in the Reuters article “very seriously” and would look into them. Later, in October 2015, the WMA upheld its decision to appoint Desai as president, without giving reasons. A source at India’s Central Bureau of Investigation said this week that the New Delhi case was still active though it was on hold due to a pending appeal in the Supreme Court. The source said Desai still needs to appear before the district court judge during hearings. A court document dated Aug. 3 shows Desai, a urologist by training, submitted an application to seek an exemption from a personal appearance in court that day due to an illness. The next hearing is scheduled for Nov. 4.

Proceedings in a separate case, alleging Desai was involved in a conspiracy to have the Medical Council of India allow a private medical school to add more students, were put on hold last year by a district court in northern Uttar Pradesh state until investigators obtain government permission to prosecute. Desai’s counsel in the case, Purnendu Chakravarti, said this week there was no change in the status of the case. Based in France, the WMA sets ethical standards for physicians worldwide and represents millions of doctors. Known for its pioneering work in ethics, its members include the American Medical Association and the British Medical Association.

There can be no bigger joke to see Ketan Desai installed as President of the World Medical ociation who is deeply involved in corruption, aming corrupt wealthlt;br/gt;and facing cases in courts. What ethics the WMA will lay for doctors the world overlt;br/gt;with such a President deeply seeped in facing corruption.

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maul

Oct 21, 2016 at 11:19 am

He is mafioso of medical profession

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Mohandas

Oct 21, 2016 at 11:32 am

But thats exactly happens in this country now...The last latest were the number of IPS officers being reinstated and even promoted now ...Even after the premier investigation agency found them wrong with solid proofs a few years back...and the good ones are punished like anything..

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Suhan

Oct 21, 2016 at 9:48 am

Gujju bhai zindabad! India has gone to Gujjus! Gujju colonialism!

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Suhan

Oct 21, 2016 at 9:49 am

must have gujju political backing to get this plum post for this ugly fellow!

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Keshav Prasad

Oct 21, 2016 at 10:35 am

A corrupt person will serve the WMA better. Any famously corrupt from India may prove an et to the WMA. Birds of the same feather flock together.

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Indian

Oct 21, 2016 at 9:59 am

BJP OR UPA both targets corruption . Not eradicate corruption but doing corruption.